


Nico & Will

by boolarus



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst, GAY ANSGT, M/M, gay as fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 06:41:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7966504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boolarus/pseuds/boolarus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the three days after Gaea's defeat, Nico is forced by Will to rest in the infirmary with him. They have a grand old time until Nico catches feelings.......</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nico & Will

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't read Trials of Apollo so I'm writing this based on what happens at the end of Blood of Olympus. I have NO idea if this is gone over in TOA or not so this is my take on what happens. Also I wrote this for a friend so I hope you enjoy it buddy!! :)

Nico walked through the dark mist with caution in his step. He was lost. The air was cold and dry. As he walked further he began to see the ground clearer. Sand. He walked on a mix of dirt, sand, and rocks. The mist still hung in the air heavy like a curtain. He tried to pull it away to see ahead but his arms felt so heavy. Nico continued forward but as far as he knew he was walking around in circles.

Nico tried to call out a simple “hello” but his mouth and throat were so dry it hurt to speak. Just as he felt he was on the verge of collapsing, the mist cleared a bit to show someone standing a little bit ahead of him. He still had no voice. Nico walked closer and closer until he felt he could not go anymore. And there she was.

Bianca. She spun around, her long black hair gently falling around her face in waves. On her head she wore a silver wreath on her head and had a bow in her hand. She looked cozy and warm in a silver windbreaker and dark jeans. Her soft features and olive skin was so inviting. Nico would’ve hugged her, kissed her freckled cheeks, if he could’ve moved.

“Nico,” she said, her warm voice soothed his whole body, “my little brother.” She reached out to touch him, but pulled away. “You’ve done a good thing.” She told him, “I never would’ve imagined you’d turn out this way.” Bianca smiled, she seemed to have tears in her eyes.

“Nico, you are so strong. I’m so proud of how big you’ve grown, how you’ve changed throughout the years. Though I do miss my nerdy little brother. You’re a bit colder now, huh?” She crossed her arms. A sneaky smile graced her face. “I bet you won’t be for long. Certain _influences_ in your life might change that. How would I know though?”

Nico still stood staring at her and trying to reach out for something, anything! He hadn’t thought about it lately but he missed her. He missed Bianca everyday with all his heart.

“B-b-bianca,” he managed to say. She smiled even more. “Oh Nico, I lov-” Down from the endless sky a giant metal foot slammed down on Bianca, crushing her and leaving nothing left. Nico tried to scream or run to help but he stayed frozen. He could not even close his eyes. But in his head he screamed and thrashed around and

He woke up in a cold sweat on his bed in the infirmary. His one blanket was thrown to the floor and above him was Will Solace. Nico scrambled to sit up, hitting his head on Will’s jaw. “Oww, ouch.” Will said, backing away. “Sorry, sorry, um…” Nico looked around at the blankets and some things he had knocked over. It was probably around 2 am, Nico’s first night of mandatory rest prescribed by Will. “I was just having a weird dream.”

“A nightmare?” Will asked. He stood in front of the curtain that hung around Nico’s bed. Nico looked up at Will, feeling mortified and slightly annoyed. He looked down at his lap and wiped away tears but it was no use. He started to cry right there infront of Will Solace.

“Umm, yeah, uuh, it’s okay.” Nico managed to say, pulling his blanket back over him and going to lay down. “Good night.”

“Heey, hey man, you can talk to me. You can tell me anything. We’re friends!” Will sat down at the end of the bed and pat Nico’s leg. Nico pulled it away and curled up into a fetal position. “No it’s really fine. Please leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere until you stop crying. As your friend and your doctor-” Nico jumped out of bed and started to put his shoes on. “Fine, then I’ll just leave.”

Will stood up too, “Okay fine. Please get back into bed and I’ll leave you alone.”

Nico glared at Will for a moment, hating that he really just wanted to fall onto his chest and cry into it, then sighed very deeply and crawled back into the bed. “Thank you,” Will smiled. “Good night.” He exited through the curtains. As soon as he was alone Nico let out a sob. He held onto his pillow, biting his lip to keep from being too loud. He’d already embarrassed himself enough for one night. But Nico didn’t feel right. He didn’t want to be alone after all. His dream left him aching for something he hadn’t really wanted in so long. A hug. He took a few breaths and whispered, “ _Wiiilll_ ,” just barely audible. Nico heard feet shuffling and suddenly Will’s head popped in from behind the curtain. “Yes?” he whispered, a small smile gracing his face. Nico sat up and pat the bed in front of him. Will sat down on the bed with his legs crossed to face Nico. “What’s been troubling you, my friend?”

Nico sighed, “I had a dream about my sister Bianca.” Will nodded, his hands folded in his lap. Nico continued, “She was telling me all these sweet things, but I couldn’t move at all. I just watched. She said he wa proud of me and that I was so strong and that I did the right thing.” Nico stopped. He wiped his face with his shirt, and just ended up covering his face with it all together. “And just as she said she loved me, this foot came down and squashed her like an ant. And I couldn’t move.” Nico let out a sob, and let himself release all his emotions quietly.

He felt Will pat his shoulder and rub his back. They sat there for a bit in almost silence until Nico was just down to sniffles. “It felt so real.” Nico finally said. > “It wasn’t.” Will reassured him. Nico sighed, “I know. I haven’t dreamed about her in so long. I’ve seen her ghost but I guess I just needed to hear her say she was proud of me.”

“And she should be.” Will said. Nico looked up at him with red eyes and messy hair. “You did the right thing.”

Nico knew what he meant. He thought back to Octavian at the catapult and how he was so worried Will hated him. Why should it matter? Why did he want Will to now pull him into a hug and hold him until the sun rose? Nico looked away. “Thanks.” he mumbled. “I feel a lot better now.” “Should I go?” Will asked.

“If you want.” Nico said smoothing out his blanket. “Why are you here anyway?”

“Someone has to stay overnight to make sure everyone’s okay in here, so I volunteered.” Will said proudly. He stood. “Just let me know if you need anything.” He paused for a moment, then turned and left.

Nico let him go without ever getting that hug. He sighed and laid his head back down, but he couldn’t sleep anymore. He had three days of mandatory rest, anyway.

 

….Day One

The sun took forever to come back out. At 8 am the camp came back to life as everyone made their way to breakfast. Nico felt it was extremely unnecessary that he had to take his breakfast in bed with all the other patients. Although he was grateful for the excuses from regular camp activities and he rather liked getting out of the now empty Hades Cabin.

“Breakfast is served!” Will pulled Nico’s curtain all the way back and presented him with his tray of food and sat down with a tray of his own.

“What’s that?” Nico asked.

“My breakfast!” Will said, “I thought I’d eat with you and then we could go for a walk. You are really in need of some sun.” Will glanced at Nico’s pale arms.

“I’m flattered but what about the other patients?” Nico asked. They were all being waited on and cared for by other kids of Apollo.

“They don’t need me today.” Will said, taking a big bite of eggs and bacon.

Nico blushed and quickly ate his own breakfast.

After they finished Will presented Nico with a fresh Camp Half-Blood t shirt to change into and they immediately set out for their walk.

“This is _extremely_ exciting,” Nico said. “All these sights I’ve never seen before!”

“Hey there pal, keep the sarcasm to yourself. It’s a beautiful day! A _day_ you’ve never seen. Enjoy it.” Will said. He walked with a certain sureness. Confidence oozed off of him. Nico wished he could walk closer. Maybe then he’d absorb some of that confidence for himself. Instead he stepped away a bit.

They walked in silence for awhile. Almost everyone they passed said hello to Will and no one gave Nico the usual dirty look. They ended up walking down to the beach and Will plopped down in the sand and took off his sneakers.

“You know I don’t see how all that walking is exactly resting.” Nico teased, sitting down to face Will. His back was to the ocean. “We’re resting now, aren’t we?” Said Will. Nico nodded.

A ways down the beach were a group of campers, mostly younger ones, with Percy. He seemed to be teaching them how to surf. Why that mattered to stay alive as a demigod, Nico didn’t know, but it was kind of funny to watch the kids tumble through the waves.

“Check this out,” Nico said, showing Will just as a small wave pulled the one surf board they had into the water.

“Oh sweet, I love surfing! Let’s go over there!” Will immediately got up and began jogging down the beach to join them. Nico followed behind, refusing to run.

“Hey Nico!” Percy shouted when he got over there. “Oh, and Will! Will Solace! Hey Will!” Percy nodded approvingly at Nico and gave him a thumbs up. Nico blushed and grabbed Will’s arm.

“You know I’ve suddenly decided I wanted to go to the uuh, strawberry fields! Let’s go.” Nico pulled Will along, ignoring his complaints. He didn’t notice however that he still had his hand wrapped around Will’s wrist until they got off the beach. “Sorry.” he mumbled, pulling it away.

For the rest of the day they roamed around avoiding people Nico knew personally and making small talk and some jokes. It was a good day. They ate all their meals together and at night played cards with a few other campers in the infirmary until it was lights out.

“Need me to tuck you in?” Will joked.

Nico rolled over in bed to hide his blushing face, “No, that’s lame. Good night Will.”

 "G'night to you too, my friend.”

And Nico slept soundly.

 

….Day Two

The morning started off the same way. Will made sure to bring Nico some fresh strawberries with his breakfast and Nico made the bed nice before he could arrive.

“Today,” Will said with a mouthful of pancakes, “I figured we’d go down to Arts & Crafts and like, make some pots or something!”

“Sounds very relaxing,” Nico said.

After breakfast the pair walked down to join an Arts & Crafts class. Will was able to make a clay vase in record time, but Nico kept breaking his bowl. “Okay, this is _so_ not relaxing.” Nico smashed the wet clay on the table.

“Don’t worry, pottery isn’t for everyone, buddy.” Will said. “Here, let me try.” Will took the lump of clay and molded it into a ball. He pressed into the center and molded it into a bowl. He smoothed out the uneven edges and used extra clay to make three little feet for it.

“What am I even going to use this for?” Nico asked.

“Well you wear a lot of rings right, my dude?” Will said, pointing at Nico’s slender fingers. “You can keep them all in here when you take them off!”

Nico felt himself blush a little. Why! Why did his face feel hot every time Will noticed something new about him?

“Hey guys!” Piper McLean had walked in and immediately went over to greet the pair. “Funny meeting _you_ here Nico, although I can’t say I’m surprised to see Will.” She said. Piper stumbled a bit getting to her seat and threw a hand over her stomach. Will rushed up to steady her, “Whoa, are you okay Piper?”

Nico tightened his grip on a piece of clay seeing Will holding up Piper. He immediately dropped the piece and bit his lip, frustrated. _He’s just helping her! Being nice! He’s so damn nice…_ he thought.

“Yeah, yeah,” she said, standing up on her own. She looked around and leaned over slightly with a sly smile on her face, “Someone in here has a _huuge_ crush on someone else in here! I can feel it.” She whispered.

Will gasped, “Ooo, who?!” Piper and Will giggled together as she tried to figure it out, checking body language and for anyone with pink cheeks. She glanced over Nico, who was nervously cracking his knuckles in front of his red face unable to move his legs and get the hell out of there. Piper’s eyes widened as Nico glanced up at her and their eyes met. Piper realized who it was.

“Oh! Is it Katie Gardner?” Will whispered to Piper. “Uuh, yeah! That must be it!” she said, giving Nico a _‘we should talk’_ look. “Well I’ll see you two later! Bye!”

Will sat back down looking very pleased with himself for catching the crusher. He leaned over right next to Nico and said, “Who do you think she likes, buddy?”

Nico slammed his hand down on the table. “Can you stop calling me ‘buddy?’” His voice caught the attention of the artists around them for only a brief moment. Will leaned back, his face full of confusion. “Just stop referring to me as ‘friend,’ ‘dude,’ ‘bro,’ what _ever!_ It’s annoying and demeaning and--”

“Lower your voice Nic-”

“NO!” Nico shouted. Now all of the campers in the Arts & Crafts tent were watching. Nico hadn’t realized but he was standing now. He grabbed the bowl from in front of Will and smashed in on the table to let out that last bit of rage. The lunch horn boomed throughout the camp and everyone began to clean up before making their way down to the dining pavilion.

Will stayed seated, staring up at Nico. “Stop fucking staring at me.” He muttered. Will looked down and gathered up the extra clay into a ball to throw away. They walked in silence to lunch and sat in silence together. Nico didn’t touch his food and Will didn’t make him eat. They just sat in painful silence.

“Hey Will, we need you at the infirmary right now.” said some Apollo kid Nico didn’t know. Will stood up and jogged up to the Infirmary with the kid without saying anything to Nico.

Nico stood and threw the rest of his food away without even bothering to offer it up to the gods.

He spent the rest of the day wandering through camp in the shadows, avoiding Will and Piper. He didn’t even stop to talk to Jason when he saw him taking a break from sword fighting. He skipped dinner too and instead went back to his cabin to sulk in peace. The deafening silence of the Hades Cabin made him really think about what he had done.

He thought about the horrified, no, disgusted look on Will’s face. Yeah that was it. He was _disgusted._ If Will didn’t secretly hate him already, he definitely openly hated him now. His chest tightened. Nico wished he wasn’t alone. He wished Hazel had stayed here instead of going back to Camp Jupiter. He briefly considered shadow traveling there right now as the sun went down over the hills of Camp Half-Blood and staying there forever. But he was still a little weak. He had one more day of rest. One more day he was supposed to spend with Will.

But that was over. Nico & Will.

“Will.” Nico’s voice cracked as he said the name out loud. The knot in his chest unraveled and he let out a gross sob. Nico cried into his pillow. He hated how much he had cried recently. He finally had time to stop and think and reflect on his life the past few years but all he could do was cry.

 _Maybe this is a good thing,_ he thought, _maybe I was always supposed to be a cry baby and I’ve found my true purpose. At last._

Nico took a few shaky deep breaths and was finally able to calm down. He wiped his eyes and washed off his face. He had one more night and one more day of rest in the infirmary, as prescribed by Will, and he was going to take them.

He left the cabin and made his way to the infirmary. It was almost past curfew so he had to jog half the way there. When he finally made it, his bed was still empty and the other patients were taking their nighttime medication before lights out. Nico looked around but Will was nowhere to be found.

Nico asked a pink haired nurse where he was. “He’s taking the night off. I’m doing the night shift for him. Why, do you need something?”  

“No, no I was just wondering.” Feeling defeated, Nico sat down in his bed and got ready to sleep. The girl pulled back everyone's curtains and turned the lights off. Nico fell in and out of a dreamless sleep, feeling quiet restless by the time the sun rose.

 

….Day Three

A different camper brought each patient their breakfast tray that morning. Nico got dressed and ate at least the toast but only after the pink haired camper/nurse asked him to. He left the infirmary with all of his things feeling anything but rested.

Nico had nothing to do and no one to drag him to anything fun. He walked around camp for a bit casually looking for Will but with no luck. He wasn’t playing volleyball or throwing javelins or painting or sitting by the beach. By lunch Nico felt worse than he had that morning. His stomach growled but he had no interest in chewing at the moment.

Instead he found a shady spot under a tree next to the canoe lake to sit. He wished he had a book to read or someone to talk to but he hadn’t read a book in so long and everyone else at camp was at lunch. Nico realized he could find Will there too, but he didn’t want to talk to him in front of anyone. As the day went by Nico wanted to talk to Will less and less. He got up and left when the canoers got back.

Nico decided to find Annabeth and ask if she had any good books to recommend, something that he never would have thought he would do a year ago. He made his way over to the Athena Cabin. As he got closer he saw two people sitting on the front steps. It was Piper and Annabeth. Nico made a sharp turn and picked up the pace away from the cabin but he wasn’t fast enough.

“Hey, hey Nico!!” Piper shouted. He stopped and waited for her to catch up. “Hey there!” she smiled at him for longer than she ever had. “Sooo…?”

“Listen Piper, I appreciate your interest in helping me or whatever but--” Nico started to say.

“But,” Piper interrupted him, “you’re not interested because it will never happen anyway and love is stupid and you’re only a teenager and blah blah blaah. Yeah, I don’t care about that. I’m not going to give you any advice or help you because I don’t think you need it or would even take it if i offered it.”

“Thank y--”

“I’m not done.” She held up her hand to stop him. “I will say just this one thing and, hey! Don’t roll your eyes! Anyway, I will say just this one thing. Talk to him.”

“What do you mean?” Nico asked.

“I mean exactly that. Find him tonight, wait for him outside the Apollo Cabin or something and you have to tell him how you feel.” Nico blushed and looked away from her.

“I.. I don’t like this.” He said to her in a low voice. “What if I don’t like the way I feel?” He couldn’t believe he was going to Piper McLean for life advice.

Piper grabbed his hands and held them in hers. “Nico, I want you to know that you should never feel bad for the way that you feel. We may not be exactly best friends but you will always have support in me. Okay?”

Nico looked back up at Piper, feeling slightly overwhelmed with emotions. “Thank you.” he said.

Later that evening Nico sat on the steps of the Hades Cabin watching campers go in and out of the Apollo Cabin, looking for Will. The sun was just about to set. Finally, he recognized the tall and tan Will Solace leaving the cabin and heading for the toilets. Nico waited until he was inside to get up and make his way over there. A few heart pounding minutes later, Will walked right past Nico, who hid in the shadows. Nico took a deep breath and remembered his talk with Piper. “Tell him how you feel.”

“Will,” Nico said, hoping Will hadn’t noticed his voice crack. “We need to talk.” Will Solace turned to look at Nico. “Can this wait?”

Nico quickly considered forgetting it all, maybe even just running away. Why deal with problems when you could just not? But he remembered his talk with Piper, his friend.

“No, it can’t wait.” Nico said, standing up a little straighter. Will sighed, “Fine. What is it?”

 _He seems annoyed. This is stupid, I’m stupid._ “Can we go somewhere a little more private?”

The pair walked in mostly silence to the spot next to the canoe lake where Nico had spent most of his day. “Is this where you were during lunch?” Will asked.

“Uh, yeah actually.” Nico blushed. “You noticed I was gone?”

Will looked away, “I notice a lot of things… but yeah. I noticed.”

They sat side by side on the ground, backs against the tree, trying not to look at each other. Nico looked out at the glossy lake. He cleared his throat and turned slightly to Will. “I’m really sorry.” He said.

“I’m really, really sorry for shouting at you and for cursing at you.” Nico paused, “It’s just… when you called me ‘buddy,’ ‘friend,’ whatever, it hurt me a little bit.”

Will looked at Nico, confused. “What do you mean? Why?” He asked.

Nico felt his heart beat faster. “I don’t know um, I just-” Nico stopped and looked up at Will. He was staring at Nico softly, his bright blue eyes filled with compassion. Nico looked around Will’s face, from his eyes, to his soft, fluffy hair, his cute nose, and his slightly parted lips. _Tell him how you feel._

  
With his heart beating in his ears, Nico leaned over and kissed Will Solace.

And Will kissed him back. 


End file.
